Technology and "Authority Reborn": The 2014 Harley-Davidson Police Line

Find out what's new inside the new line, and some of the cool gear and features you can expect to see

By PoliceOne Staff

For over 105 years, police officers have been riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles as part of their official duties. In that time, many revisions have taken place to the design of their patrol vehicles, but now, under the guidance of their Police Advisory Board, Harley-Davidson announced a significant redesign of the Electra Glide™ and Road King™ police models for the 2014 model year. Curious as to what exactly changed, and how it was implemented?

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Let’s start off with that which keeps you going: the engine. For this year, Harley has introduced a 1690cc High Output Twin Cam 103 model with 6% more horsepower than the previous law enforcement model, and 4% more torque. By increasing both, the officer is given additional passing power for day-to-day operations.

Handling has improved by the introduction of a 29-degree steering head angle, combined with Harley’s existing deep lean angles and low center of gravity. Braking is better, too, with the standard-equipment Reflex Linked Brake System that electronically couples the front and rear brakes when traveling over 25mph, and decouples them under that speed for increased control in slow-speed maneuvering.

THE OUTSIDE:

What you can see by looking at the vehicle as you approach it are several immediate improvements in design, The first is the introduction of a lighter-weight open-concept wheel design for improved handling.

Next,as you look to the front of the motorcycle, is the redesigned fairing on the 2014 Electra Glide™ model, the traditional “batwing” design now includes Harley’s new Splitstream™ vent, which redirects air to reduce buffeting at speed. On the Road King™ model, the tachometer and speedometer’s positions have been flipped to help officers keep their eyes on the road ahead. The headlights on the Electra Glide™ model have been updated to the newest in technology through the introduction of the Daymaker™ LED unit, providing 916 lumens of daylight-quality light, while those on the Road King model offer a dual-halogen setup with 546 lumens on Low and a massive 1,460 lumens on High to project your visibility far down the road.

Moving back from the fairing, you’ll find an intelligent redesign of the hand controls, allowing more control in less space for all the features you need to have a handle on. Speed capture, cruise control, push-to-talk, and more are all standard equipment and controlled with one-touch buttons. Digital displays show you speed and gear position, and emergency lighting can now be controlled independently, front and rear. Also standard equipment are a new Accessory mode which lets you run your lighting and siren even with the ignition off, and a new “Stealth Mode” switch allows you to instantly turn off all exterior lighting (except instruments and brakes).

From there, as you let your eyes slide over the rest of the bike, you’ll notice more improvements including new, larger saddlebags with One-Touch latches for easy access to all of your equipment, and where you meet the road most directly, last year’s improved seat suspension system has been carried over to make sure you can feel as much of the road as needed without being jarred to the point of being uncomfortable or risking the safety of your control of the vehicle.

To find out more about the 2014 Harley-Davidson Police Line, and see the differences for yourself, contact Harley-Davidson today by visiting www.harley-davidsonpolicemotors.com.